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Ideaphora motivated [my students] to self-assess and improve their learning.

PORTLAND, OR (PRWEB)August 03, 2016

While educators are increasingly choosing to #GoOpen, these digital materials are only transformative when they support higher-order teaching and learning. Today, Ideaphora launches its online concept mapping environment for individual use for educators and learners – from elementary to college level – to use open education resources and other digital content in ways that are immersive, effective and personalized.

Ideaphora offers the first browser-based concept mapping tool that integrates seamlessly with a wide range of digital content, including open education resources. The tool aids users in deriving lasting knowledge and critical thinking skills from digital content, such as ebooks and videos.

“Ideaphora is an effective and universal tool for teaching and learning,” said Christi Collins, second grade teacher for Wise County Public Schools in Wise, Virginia. “My students used Ideaphora to collect and organize information, visualize their thinking, brainstorm, and demonstrate understanding. Ideaphora motivated them to self-assess and improve their learning.”

Ideaphora’s technology deconstructs digital content into meaningful concepts, automatically generating keywords and images that users can drag-and-drop into a node on their concept map that they build right alongside the resource. Users can easily grab concepts from multiple resources to expand their maps. They don’t have to fumble with toggling among multiple screens, cutting and pasting, or generating nodes and text themselves that distract from the thinking and learning process.

Nodes on their concept maps feature “playback” buttons that take students directly to the points in the content from which they keywords were derived for easier studying and to reinforce learning. Ideaphora enables students to take notes, organize their thoughts, connect ideas, and apply their knowledge – all in one screen.

Ideaphora features a wealth of open education resources in its library, and is adding more every week, for educators and students to use in creating their concept maps. Users can search these resources on a very granular level to find the exact spot a keyword is used in the material. For example, search the keyword “ice” and the results include an educational video with the exact timestamp for the point in the recording in which ice is mentioned, ready to play.

The Ideaphora concept mapping environment for classroom use has been tested in beta by more than 2,500 individuals and in 40 classroom pilots prior to today’s release.

Ideaphora provides individual users with the opportunity to “try now” with no registration required as well as access to the full-featured platform through a free 45-day trial. Educators interested in trying the tool with their students can participate in Ideaphora’s no-cost classroom pilot program.

About Ideaphora
Ideaphora is committed to shaping young minds by developing technologies that help students learn how to construct, retain and apply knowledge from the growing array of digital content. The company offers the first-of-its-kind learning environment that enables students to engage with and assimilate online content in a way that’s seamless, effective and personalized. Ideaphora supports schools and educators in extending the proven practice of concept mapping to the demands of today’s digitally driven world. Visit Ideaphora.com for more information or contact info(at)ideaphora(dot)com.